Chapter 289. Six Directions Divine Spear (2)

As Zhou Xuchuan had expected, Blessed Existence had anticipated that they would search for the Human-faced Spider. It wasn't strange, as he had the Tang Family's Little Patriarch by his side.

"It won't go as planned."

The habitat of the Human-faced Spider, the Nature Formation inside the Xiling Gorge, was like Blessed Existence's second home and was essentially in the palm of his hand.

It only made sense, as the Human-faced Spider was a spiritual beast under the management of the Archive. He was also particularly concerned about it, as it involved not only the materials for the Formless Poison but also the neidan of the beast itself.

In addition to being so familiar with the location that it was like his second home, the leader of one of the expedition teams was a spy planted by the Dark Heavens Association and Avaricious Wolf.

This was a golden opportunity to strike at the thorn in his side.

"I'll make you feel what it means to have a heaven beyond the heavens."

He planned his operation based on the information that the Bear Fist Hero had given him, taking advantage of Zhou Xuchuans' delay in joining.

"

Nù Ér Náo Zhī

."

In Sun Tzu's the Art of War, Chapter One, Laying Plans, it was said that one ought to anger the enemy to shake their camp.

The real purpose of this feint was to ensure that Zhou Xuchuan wouldn't be able to suppress his anger. He wanted to destroy his reasoning, taking away his ability to judge the situation.

In other words, the actual target of this plan wasn't Zhou Xuchuan himself, but those around him, including Luo Xiaoyue and the Mount Hua Sect.

That was why he had divided the forces—to prevent Zhou Xuchuan from grouping up with the Mount Hua Sect.

It had also been Blessed Existence's intention to leave the Gold Will Sword Sect behind so that Zhou Xuchuan, who would arrive later, could be informed of the situation.

"If he has to choose between the two forces, he should choose the ally who needs help the most. I would do the same if I were in his shoes."

He could trust the power of his sect, as the Plum Blossom Swordsmen had grouped up with them, but he didn't have enough information to gauge the strength of the Qingcheng Sect or the Martial Alliance.

Thus, Zhou Xuchuan chose the one that seemed to need more help.

For the Bear Fist Hero, it didn't actually matter which way Zhou Xuchuan went.

If Zhou Xuchuan joined the Mount Hua Sect, he just had to join the Dark Heavens Association's ambush, and if the swordsman were to come to his side, all he had to do was focus on tying up his feet.

Destructive Soldier had been waiting in the middle, and when he saw that Zhou Xuchuan's expedition party had split up, he waited to confirm Zhou Xuchuan's movements before moving toward the latter instead of the Mount Hua Sect.

As expected, Zhou Xuchuan had taken the bait.

"If his few friends in the Mount Hua Sect are brutally murdered, Zhou Xuchuan will most likely be unable to control his anger and turn into nothing more than a vengeful ghost. That's exactly what I want. Moreover, I'll be able to deal with that annoying Poison Phoenix, so it's like killing two birds with one stone."

Blessed Existence had expected that the Tang Family wouldn't accompany Zhou Xuchuan. It wasn't that Zhou Xuchuan's individual strength was lacking. He would just grow concerned with the others standing by his side, and they would become hindrances to his running.

When the Bear Fist Hero heard the plan, he doubted whether it would really work. It was that much of a gamble.

What if, contrary to Blessed Existence's intentions, Zhou Xuchuan had chosen the Mount Hua Sect because he valued his own sect more?

However, it had been a needless worry.

"Zhou Xuchuan is a hero. He isn't so pure or idealistic as to be ignorant of reality, but he still acts with good intentions as long as he sees the path in front of him and thinks that he can reach it."

Even if he had chosen the Mount Hua Sect anyway and had sent the Tang Family to the other group, it wouldn't have mattered.

Dealing with Tang Hui would be profitable enough...

Thus, Destructive Soldier retreated as soon as he achieved his intended goal.

"Zhou Xuchuan. I will make you regret fighting our Association."

***

"

Haa, haa...

" Luo Xiaoyue was breathing in ragged pants.

"Duck!"

Swoosh!

As soon as Luo Xiaoyue bent her knees, something flew over her head. She looked ahead and saw hidden weapons stuck in the spider's jaw.

"Thank you!"

The battle against the spiders was never-ending. They fought nonstop, but somehow, the spiders showed no signs of diminishing. They were still crawling out of the darkness even now.

It wasn't just the injured, as the number of casualties had been climbing since the battle began. If reinforcements hadn't arrived in the midst of the battle, the damage would have been disastrous by now.

"

Hmph,

they keep coming in." Sun Yishan frowned as he stomped on a spider's head with his foot. Even without his frown, he already had many wrinkles. There were piles of spider corpses next to him.

"This is bad," Meng Ge said with a dark face. His breathing had also become irregular, and beaded sweat had formed on his forehead, proving that he was utterly exhausted.

Even though he was a disciple of a great sect and a Plum Blossom Swordsman, his qi reserves were still finite. His qi had reached its limits after dealing with hundreds of spiders.

"While the big ones are a problem, the small ones aren't a joke, either."

Tan Xiang swung her sword, looking annoyed. Her sword swept across the ground, and a group of spiders hiding among the weeds turned into mere blood splatters.

At first, they were relieved to see their size, but their minds changed when Tang Hui warned them that the small ones were extremely venomous.

Scritch, scritch!

It was like they were in a spider's heaven.

Massive spiders fell from tree branches, and venomous spiders approached stealthily like assassins across the weed-covered ground.

The problem was that the large spiders were attacking them so relentlessly that they barely had time to pay attention to the ground.

"

Haaa, haaa...

"

Cao Chun of the Ten Gale Swordsmen looked bad. His face was on the verge of turning pale, and his breathing was quite ragged.

"

Ugh.

"

Wang Yi was the same. His reaction speed had slowed down noticeably.

While those of the Mount Hua Sect, the Beggar Gang, and the Tang Family all had outstanding qi reserves befitting of their status as major sects, this wasn't the case for the Gold Will Sword Sect.

Although they had received some support for elixirs from the wealth of the Merchant King, there was still a limit to their qi reserves. Their very starting points were different, and there was nothing they could do to bridge that gap.

Screech!

Beasts had sharp senses, and it was especially true for spiritual beasts.

They knew well which prey was weak and exhausted.

One of the large spiders pounced on Cao Chun.

Cao Chun realized it too late and screamed, "

Aah!

"

The spider's leg turned into a sickle and was about to stab Cao Chun when a sword flashed from the side.

"Ha!" Luo Xiaoyue shouted confidently as she swung her sword at a right angle, slashing the leg upward.

The large spider screeched.

Screech, screech!

As the pain turned into anger, its six eyes flashed.

A wound like that could be lethal to humans, but a spider had eight legs. It still had seven left—more than enough legs to fight. The legs were filled with anger as they swung toward Luo Xiaoyue at the same time.

From top to bottom and left to right...

Shrill noises echoed as the legs tore through the air, moving with force appropriate to their size.

"Watch ou—"

Cao Chun tried to warn her, but then he closed his mouth.

Clang, clang, clang!

Luo Xiaoyue's sword moved dazzlingly. Her sword moved so fast that skilled experts couldn't keep up with it at all.

Cao Chun's mouth dropped open as he stared at her majestic and nonchalant way of slashing at the spider legs that poured down on her like a rain of arrows.

She blocked them perfectly, and she had also either severed or deflected the legs.

The spider's balance shattered, forcing it to attack while defending itself.

The scene of her unfolding sword technique after sword technique as her waist-length hair fluttered in the wind was both fierce and beautiful.

The sight of it made Cao Chun forget where he was at the moment.

In the end, the large spider that threatened Cao Chun's life couldn't withstand Luo Xiaoyue's sword strikes and fell down with a thud.

Luo Xiaoyue exhaled and turned slightly to ask, "Are you okay?"

"T-thank you," Cao Chun answered, looking dazed.

I envy Captain Zhou.

Her martial arts skills were great, but her beauty was also extraordinary. She was still shining despite the spider blood all over her.

Those who somehow obtained Luo Xiaoyue's interest would become the object of the world's jealousy, but the problem was that the object of their jealousy was Zhou Xuchuan, the greatest hero of the

murim

.

Everyone could see that they were the perfect beautiful pair, which meant that all they could do was feel envious.

"Watch out!"

Cao Chun couldn't stew in his admiration for long.

"...!"

Luo Xiaoyue turned upon hearing the warning, and her pupils shrank in shock.

Oh no!

Time seemed to crawl to a snail's pace just then.

Something flew out of the bushes behind the spider's corpse in front of her.

It was a dagger with a matte black blade, and it was painted in a way that prevented light from reflecting off of it. Moreover, it wasn't just one dagger. At a glance, there were more than twenty.

Flicker!

Luo Xiaoyue's sword flickered like lightning. She managed to react immediately, as she had turned her head slightly. She took a breath and infused her qi circulating within her into her sword.

A considerable amount of energy rushed out of her, allowing her to pick up speed.

Clang, clang, clang!

She somehow managed to deal with half of the daggers.

The other half was the problem.

"You dare!"

A flash of light erupted from Zhang Xuen, the one who had warned Luo Xiaoyue, and she unleashed a barrage of sword wind, blowing away half of the remaining daggers.

Squelch!

"

Ugh!

" A groan escaped Luo Xiaoyue's lips. She managed to avoid a few of the remaining daggers, but she couldn't dodge all of them. One of them grazed her forearm.

"Junior Sister Luo! Are you okay?" Zhang Xuen asked with a worried voice.

"Yes, I'm fine—" Luo Xiaoyue couldn't continue her sentence and collapsed.

"Junior Sister Luo!"

"Get out of the way."

Tang Hui rushed forward and reached Luo Xiaoyue.

"It's an ambush!" Sun Yishan shouted while staring in the direction where the daggers had come from.

The Mount Hua Sect disciples gathered quickly, surrounding Luo Xiaoyue to protect her.

The rest followed suit.

"How is she?" Meng Ge asked without taking his eyes off the bushes before them.

"It's bad. They've laced the daggers with poison."

Tang Hui opened Luo Xiaoyue's collar and looked inside. The skin of her collarbone and neck had changed. When she read the girl's pulse, she felt like Luo Xiaoyue was boiling. Clearly, the poison had penetrated her veins.

"Can you hear me?"

Luo Xiaoyue nodded slightly at Tang Hui's question.

"Good. Sit cross-legged and circulate your qi. I'll help you from behind, so you should focus on detoxification."

Luo Xiaoyue sat cross-legged, following Tang Hui's instructions. Her face was as pale as a sheet, and sweat poured down her brow like a waterfall.

"I'll have to ask you to protect us." Tang Hui placed her palms on Luo Xiaoyue's back and concentrated.

"We're deep in the thick of it, I guess," Tan Xiang said, clicking her tongue and tightening her grip on her sword.

"You rat bastards, come out now!" Zhang Hong roared murderously.

"

Kehehe

!" A peal of sinister laughter echoed in response.

The gaze of the audience turned to the source standing beyond the bushes.

"It's really hard waiting because I haven't been able to find an opening, but she still got poisoned by the Ten Thousand Blood Poison, so whatever."

BOOM!

The bushes shook—no, the entire forest shook.

Every time the owner of that voice took a step forward, the expedition force would feel a vibration beneath their feet. It felt like there was an earthquake.

"W-what..."

The faces of the expedition force turned pale like corpses.

A gigantic spider that looked as big as Mt. Tai appeared before them.

It was so big that just looking at it made them feel overwhelmed.

It was so tall that it was probably a zhang tall.

For a moment, they thought that the voice belonged to the spider, but upon closer inspection, they realized that they were mistaken.

There was an old man sitting on its head.

While it wasn't clear whether he was wearing clothes or rags, one thing was for sure—his clothes were covered with the ruthless passage of time, making him appear as if he had long faded away into the background of history.

However, Sun Yishan was startled upon seeing the old man.

"Old Man Blood Poison?" he asked.

"

Kekekekeke,

so you really do recognize me."

"Why would a Great Demon Head of the Blood Cult..."

The members of the expedition party couldn't help but feel astonished.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Old Man Blood Poison was a notorious Blood Cult master and sorcerer.

After the Great War of Good and Blood, remnants of the Blood Cult were still hiding in many places throughout the Central Plains.

However, they hadn't expected to see one here.

Upon realizing something, Sun Yishan's confusion disappeared, and he gnashed his teeth, roaring, "You're part of the Dark Heavens Association!"

"You're exactly right."

The Dark Heavens Association had planted spies in each faction. Moreover, they had even tried to persuade some of the faction members to turn traitors. Old Man Blood Poison was one of the latter.

Even before the Blood Demon's invasion of the Central Plains, Old Man Blood Poison was already a member of the Blessed Existence Star, and he had been supporting the Dark Heavens Association with various sorcery and spells.

"If you leave those two behind and step aside, I'll let you die without much pain," Old Man Blood Poison said kindly. He had no intention of letting them live. As expected of someone from the Blood Cult, he intended to use the people before him as materials for his sorcery.

"Nonsense!"

"

Tsk, tsk, tsk,

you're saying you're going to refuse the reward and accept the punishment? How foolish."

Old Man Blood Poison raised his left hand. His sleeve rolled up, revealing teratological drawings and letters carved into his skin.

Scritch, scritch!

The spiders around him slowly increased in number. In addition, Seven Stars Division Soldiers dressed in black from head to toe appeared in the midst of the spiders.

"It won't even take..."

"Half an hour to deal with you."

Squelch!

Old Man Blood Poison experienced something strange just then. The hand that had been with him his entire life spun and turned in the air in front of him. He felt like he was dreaming. He could still feel that hand, after all.

"What the...?"

"Didn't Blessed Existence teach you that talking too much can ruin everything?"

The expedition party saw someone's back, hiding Old Man Blood Poison from their sight.

A voice echoed from the man with his back facing toward them.

"Leave the Human-faced Spider behind while I'm being nice. It's mine."

The Head Archivist of the Archive would certainly rise from his grave if he somehow heard those words.